I purchased Laser Clinics Australia treatments not knowing they have an expiry date

Health & Body
1

I purchased 6 laser treatments from the Laser Clinics Australia website last year. I just logged in to my account with them (wanted to see how many treatments I had left) only to see that the treatments I purchased have an expiry date. I was previously unaware of this.

I thought maybe I missed that memo when I purchased them. So I checked my receipt that was emailed to me. No mention of expiry date. I went through the steps of purchasing one of their treatments online and I got to the last step (the payment section) and no where was the expiry date mentioned.

I have just read the Terms and Conditions. It does clearly state they expire within 12 months. I have just filtered through their website and the only other place the expiry date is mentioned (that I can find) is in the ‘Other’ category in ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. I never read any FAQ when purchasing the treatments last year as I had already received these treatments (I paid in person) so I had no need to read FAQ.

I know that I am at fault as I was meant to read the Terms and Conditions.

But is it unreasonable to think that it’s not ok to purchased $714 of treatments without it mentioning that they expire unless I read the Term and Conditions?

Does this not place customers in a disadvantage? Isn’t it in their best interest to hide this information? Or am I in the wrong to think that I should have know this?

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2

This is a complicated one. I am not a legal person, but here are my thoughts on what I would do.

Have a look at Choice’s article on what to do when you get bad service.

FIrst thing is to get in touch with the business and make a complaint using Choice’s checklist. If you need help, have a look at Choice’s email template. Use the one for a general complaint.

If that doesn’t work, put in a formal complaint to your state’s fair trading and the ACCC.

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3

The legislation was been updated so gift cards and vouchers must have a minimum of 3 year expiration dates. The law applies to all gift cards or vouchers sold on or after 1 November 2019. There are some exclusions and the form (voucher, just prepayment, etc) of your purchase would matter as to whether the updated law applies.

If you purchased your vouchers prior to 1 November 2019 you are technically out of luck BUT asking for an extension, especially because you might not be able to use them during the COVID-19 shut down might get you the response you need. Ask Laser Clinics directly.

We bought a gift voucher for a family member last year - high tea at the Windsor Hotel - with a 6 months use-by date on it. We contacted them considering restaurants and hotels are shut down and they happily bumped the certificates to the new 3-years expiration.

From their web site COVID-19 update they are not so accommodating but this might not be specifically about your purchased treatments.

* What do I do about my expiring prepays?
If you have any outstanding prepaid treatments, we will extend the expiry date of any prepays that expire during the clinic temporary closure.

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